What is a moral crusader?

Frequently as feminists we are told that our arguments are invalid because we are just moral crusaders out on some other moral crusade because of a variety of reasons none of which have to do with feminism. I for one, am a bit tired of this. Being accused of being a moral crusader always does or tries to bring the conversation to a screeching halt. Because the phrase sounds just awful, who wants to be accused of “crusading?” Yet does anyone really question what exactly a moral crusader is? What the phrase means? When I looked up what the meaning is, the entire definition is:

A person who seeks to influence a group to adopt or maintain a norm.

That’s it folks. So yes, I suppose feminists are moral crusaders. We do seek to influence a group (people) to adopt a norm (not hate women). Who else is a “moral crusader?”

The police

Most of the government

Every activist group ever

Unions

Do you think anyone accuses unions of being on a moral crusade because they want better conditions? So why does this phrase only apply to feminists and the church? I don’t believe I’ve ever heard it applied anywhere else despite the fact that it applies to every group trying to get anything done ever. I don’t believe I heard anyone use this term in reference to black groups trying to get recognition as human, and certainly not now. It’s incredibly obvious that accusing feminists of being moral crusaders is a pathetic attempt to align us with religious groups. I think it’s fairly obvious that many people hear that term crusades and think of the obvious brutal violent religious crusades. So people, please stop using the term moral crusader. It’s not actually an insult. Maybe people should pay more attention to what they’re saying, because this term just shows your ignorance.

2 thoughts on “What is a moral crusader?”

My point still stands. You can’t change the meaning of a word on a whim, without any context whatsoever, or make an exception to the rule. Definitions are how we understand words and have a common language. Otherwise, by the same logic, kink and porn enthusiasts are moral crusaders (in a bad way, as implied without reason when used towards feminists).